Liam Plunkett has taken to Twitter to clarify his comments about free-to-air access to the World Cup, after appearing to call for the final to be shown on terrestrial television if England make it through next week's semi-final in Edgbaston.

Plunkett's recall for the past two matches against India and New Zealand helped England to overcome a wobble in the group stages, and seal their progression to the last four of the World Cup for the first time since 1992. They will face either India or Australia in the second semi-final on July 11, with the final at Lord's following three days later on July 14.

Speaking in the wake of England's 119-run win over New Zealand at Chester-le-Street, Plunkett was asked by the BBC's 5 Live Breakfast Show whether he would support calls for the final to be made available on free-to-air, given that the World Cup has been overshadowed in terms of viewing figures by the women's football World Cup - England's semi-final against the USA on Tuesday drew 11.7 million viewers, making it the BBC's biggest television audience of the year. England's World Cup cricket fixtures, by contrast, have drawn an average of 450,000.

.@SkyCricket are an incredible partner for the game and have been for the past 20+ years.
I was asked a question & I never said that it should be on FTA. My words have been twisted & the headline is misleading.

The whole country is behind us. Keep believing. #WeAreEngland

— Liam plunkett (@Liam628) July 4, 2019

"I'm not sure they're going to do it, but it would great for everybody to be able to watch that," Plunkett said. "Playing for England, you're the pride of the country and you want people to be able to access that and watch that. I'm not sure it's going to happen but for the guys, you want as many people to watch it as possible."

Although the ECB is understood to have held talks with Sky about the status of the World Cup final, it is now unlikely that the match will be made available beyond Sky's own subscribers. There is a possibility that it will be shown on Sky One, which is estimated to reach half of the households in Britain, and one-off subscriptions may be also made available through Sky's Now TV platform.

"It's always nice to be on a bigger platform," Plunkett added. "Hopefully people tune in to watch that game. It would obviously be great to have as many people watching as possible, we feel like we've built something special here as a team. It would be nice to go all the way and to have big numbers watching that final if we get through and win, that would be huge."

A proportion of free-to-air cricket access is set to be reinstated from next year onwards, with the advent of the ECB's new 100-ball competition, after Sky agreed to cede some of its exclusivity to the BBC as part of a new £1.1billion rights deal from 2020-2024.

Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive who brokered the deal, recently described Sky as "cricket's best friend" - the broadcaster has been involved in cricket since 1990 and has been the exclusive partner for home internationals since 2006 - and Plunkett later tweeted to clarify his remarks.

"Sky Cricket are an incredible partner for the game and have been for the past 20+ years," he wrote. "I was asked a question & I never said that it should be on FTA. My words have been twisted & the headline is misleading. The whole country is behind us. Keep believing."

Arjen Robben has announced his retirement from professional football after playing a key role in Bayern Munich's golden decade.

"I will definitely retire. And it's good as it is," Robben, 35, said in a statement released to German media on Thursday. "It's the hardest decision I had to make in my career."

Robben, whose contract at Bayern Munich expired on June 30, added: "My heart says yes, my body says no."

Injury prone throughout major parts of his enormously successful career, Robben missed most of his Bundesliga farewell tour in 2019 as he once again battled several injuries.

"It is a decision in which heart and mind collide. The reality is that things don't work the way they did when you were 16," Robben said.

In his last match at the Allianz Arena, Robben was on target for Bayern as the German giants sealed a seventh consecutive Bundesliga title, before going on to win another domestic double the following week.

After stints with FC Groningen, PSV Eindhoven, Chelsea and Real Madrid, Robben joined Bayern Munich in 2009 and went on to become one of the club's greats in the decade to follow.

Featuring in 201 Bundesliga games, he scored 99 goals and set up a further 62.

The 2010 World Cup finalist appeared in a total of 110 Champions League matches for Eindhoven, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern.

He crowned his time at the club by scoring the late winner in the 2013 all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund, which Bayern won 2-1.

During his career, Robben won eight German Bundesliga titles, five German cups, two Premier League trophies, one FA Cup, one La Liga title, two Dutch cups and one Eredivisie title on top of the Champions League and Club World Cup in 2013.

He participated in three World Cups and three European championships.

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. confirmed to The Undefeated that he suffered a knee injury during a team scrimmage Wednesday.

Porter will miss the Las Vegas Summer League with a left knee strain, a source tells The Undefeated. He is expected to be back for training camp.

Porter had been slated to make his Nuggets debut after missing his rookie season due to his second back surgery. The source said the team decided that playing in the summer league was not reason enough to rush the former Missouri forward back into action.

Porter, the 14th overall pick in 2018, did not have any back issues during practice and scrimmages this week.

The Denver Post first reported that Porter would miss the team's summer league play.

CHICAGO -- The Detroit Tigers have placed outfielder JaCoby Jones on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain and recalled outfielder Victor Reyes from Triple-A Toledo.

The Tigers also returned Tyler Alexander to Toledo after the left-hander made his major league debut as the 26th man in the second game of a doubleheader in Chicago on Wednesday.

Jones left the first game of the twin bill in the fifth inning with back spasms. Manager Ron Gardenhire said an MRI showed no structural damage.

Jones, 27, is batting .244 with nine homers and 23 RBIs in 69 games.

Reyes hit .302 with nine homers and 55 RBIs in 65 games with Toledo. Reyes got the start for Thursday's game against the White Sox, leading off and playing center field.

Alexander allowed two runs in five innings in a no-decision. The White Sox came back to win 9-6 in 12 innings and sweep the doubleheader.

A guide to the 10,000m festival in London, including race previews, timetable and TV listing

One of the most popular events on the calendar, the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs returns on Saturday, hosting the European 10,000m Cup for the second successive year, writes Paul Halford.

The special atmosphere, boosted by free spectator entry, will no doubt once again propel the runners, whether elite or good club level, to fast times.

Race previews

Although last year’s men’s winner, Richard Ringer of Germany, has pulled out to race in Lausanne instead, Lonah Salpeter is back to defend her women’s title.

The Israeli won last year with 31:33:03 but is clearly capable of better than that national record, given her recent half-marathon and marathon times of 66:09 and 2:19:46.

Britain’s team is headed by Eilish McColgan, who is in the form of her life after setting PBs last month over 1500m and 5000m.

Although not on the British team, Steph Twell ought to figure highly too.

Alice Wright will line up for Britain, having missed the Doha selection standard of 31:50 by just six seconds in Palo Alto, while Sarah Inglis is on the team after her 32:11 performance last month. Charlotte Arter, Mhairi Maclennan and Verity Ockenden complete the sextet for the defending champions.

READ MORE: Alice Wright ready for Highgate 10,000m test

Portugal will have a strong and experienced team, with Ana Dulce Felix having run below 32 minutes this year.

The full women’s A race entry list, featuring eight women who have run inside 32 minutes for 10,000m, can be found here.

On the men’s side, European champion Morhad Amdouni of France will be looking to step up from silver last year. Also making a return will be Italy’s European bronze medallist Yeman Crippa, who was third here last year.

Norway’s former European marathon record-holder Sondre Moen should improve on his PB of 28:15.12.

The in-form Nick Goolab heads Britain’s team after clocking 28:22 on the road this year and he is making his debut at the distance on the track.

Former European 10,000m silver medallist Chris Thompson will not be wearing a GB vest but will expect to be challenging for the top domestic places.

READ MORE: Night of 10,000m PBs to host European 10,000m Cup until 2020

GB’s team chances as they take on defending champions Spain have been hit by the withdrawals of Dewi Griffiths and Marc Scott, but Jack Gray and Andy Heyes take their places, while Ben Connor, Matt Leach and Adam Hickey complete the team. The Doha selection standard of 27:40 will be a tough proposition, though.

The full men’s A race entry list, which includes seven men who have run sub-28 minutes for 10,000m, can be found here.

Eight races are scheduled, with a live Q&A with Liz McColgan, Bram Som and Andy Vernon just before the championship races.

WaveLight technology

For the first time, the event will use electronic pacemaking technology, with ‘WaveLight’ giving athletes and spectators a pace guide via moving lights which will line the inside of the Parliament Hill track and can be set to any required racing time.

“I’m over the moon to bring WaveLight technology to our 2019 event,” said event director Ben Pochee. “It continues the tradition we’ve established at the Night of the 10,000m PBs of innovating track distance running.

“The WaveLight technology will enable us to add another level of spectator engagement and help bring to life the full story of each race.”

Timetable

1.00pm Inter-schools relay
2.15pm Race 1 men
3.00pm Race 2 men
3.45pm Race 3 men
4.30pm Race 4 women
5.15pm Race 5 men
6.00pm VIP Q&A with Liz McColgan, Bram Som and Andy Vernon
7.00pm The Strava Mile Pursuit
7.15pm Race 6 women – inc European 10,000m Cup B race
8.00pm Race 7 men – inc European 10,000m Cup B race
8:45pm Race 8 women – inc European 10,000m Cup A race, British Champs & GB world trials
9.30pm Race 9 men – inc European 10,000m Cup A race, British Champs & GB world trials

TV guide

Vinco Sport will be showing a live stream of the action from 2.15pm here.

Coverage will also be shown live on the BBC Sport website here from 8.30pm.

Visit the AW stand!

We’ll be at Parliament Hill reporting on the action, so be sure to keep an eye on our social media channels and website, plus we’ll also have a stand at the 1500m start, so come and say ‘hi’!

Throughout John Andretti’s life, there wasn’t a race car he didn’t at least try to drive.

From USAC midgets, sprint cars and Silver Crown cars to the Indy cars of the 1980s and 1990s, to NASCAR Cup Series cars in the 1990s and early 2000s to the more current Indy car machines, if it was a race car, Andretti wanted to drive it.

He even drove an NHRA Top Fuel dragster during the early 1990s and ran a few sports car races in his career.

Whatever he raced, Aldo Andretti’s son always did it with a smile, a sense of humor and a positive attitude.

Today, Andretti keeps that attitude as he battles something far more serious than an ill-handling race car. He is fighting the greatest opponent of his life, an opponent that may one day take his life.

Andretti has stage IV colorectal cancer and is undergoing a radical new treatment that he hopes will succeed, where chemotherapy has failed.

“I’m getting by better with this round of treatment than I am with the chemo,” Andretti told SPEED SPORT. “It’s actually way better than chemo. I just hope it works well.”

Andretti is undergoing immunotherapy on a trial basis. The FDA requires a cancer patient to go through every recovery avenue possible before going to a trial. A clinical trial collects data, but researchers are in the test stages of the trial.

“It’s a bit of the roll of the dice, but it beats doing nothing,” Andretti said. “Also, chemotherapy is no cure. I was lucky enough to get on a trial because of my health.

“Believe it or not, I’m considered healthy other than having cancer. There are only 52 people in the United States on this trial and they kick people off it all the time if they can’t take the treatment or the trial is bad,” Andretti added. “The drug companies pay for the patient to be on it. They don’t pay you; they pay for the trial and it’s very expensive.”

At 56, Andretti still has his boyish appearance that allows him to pass for someone in their late 30s.

Andretti, who showed no signs or symptoms of having any health issues, had a colonoscopy when he was in his mid-50s.

The news he received afterward was shocking and sobering.

“They call colon cancer the ‘Silent Killer,’” Andretti said. “They do that because you can have it and not ever know it. The only way to find out if you have it is a colonoscopy. If you are so inclined that you don’t want to spend a day of your life to find out for sure if you don’t have colon cancer and you are that dumb, then you can try Cologuard and all those things.

“Or, if you are me and you are dumb enough not to do it when you probably should have and have a doctor tell me it wasn’t necessary because my blood looked good and didn’t have a problem.

“Of course, he is no longer my doctor.”

MONTREAL -- The Canadiens began using the money they won't be paying Sebastian Aho by signing defenseman Ben Chiarot to a three-year, $10.5 million contract.

Montreal had signed Aho to a five-year, $42.7 million offer sheet, but Carolina intends to match that contract and keep its best player. The Canadiens can't give an offer sheet to another player until the Hurricanes officially match.

The 28-year-old Chiarot will count $3.5 million against the salary cap in each of the next three seasons. The 6-foot-3, 219-pound left-shooting blueliner had a career-high 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) and 62 penalty minutes in 78 games with the Winnipeg Jets last season.

The Hamilton, Ontario, native has 64 points (12 goals, 52 assists) in 305 career regular-season games, all with Winnipeg. He has three assists in 24 career playoff games.

NEW YORK -- Reigning women's champion Miki Sudo devoured 31 hot dogs to win the women's division of the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest on New York City's Coney Island boardwalk Thursday.

The 33-year-old fell short of her 37-frankfurter total from last year, but she earned her sixth consecutive title by easily beating runner-up Michelle Lesco, who wolfed down 26 hot dogs.

Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas holds the women's record of 45 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Spectators with foam hot dog hats, plastic noisemakers and homemade signs descended on Coney Island's famed boardwalk for the contest.

"I'm super grateful for everybody who came out here to support," Sudo said.